Fox Sports Net Taps Viewpoint Creative For Comprehensive NBA Branding Package

Viewpoint Creative, the award-winning creative agency with offices in Boston and Los Angeles, created the new branding package/comprehensive promotional toolkit for LA-based Fox Sports Net's coverage of the 2006-07 NBA season. The customizable spots, which cleverly highlight the games and key match-ups, can be seen on all 15 regional channels across the U.S. that comprise Fox Sports Net.

"Fox Sports Net was looking for a creative package for their affiliates that contained a memorable concept that captured the core spirit of the game," explains Michael Middeleer, Viewpoint Creative Director. "Their mandate to us was to avoid all basketball clichés. The challenge then was to find a great, standout idea that would also resonate with hardcore basketball fans."

Viewpoint responded with a bold concept centering on classic metal "pop and shoot" basketball arcade games from the 50s and 60s.



The spots begin with a hand dramatically starting the game followed by a long, tracking camera shot revealing the stylized retro stadium look inside it. The shot ends with a dramatic swish of the ball through a hoop emblazoned with the FSN logo. From there the action picks up speed as the ball careens around the game revealing star players' likeness painted on the walls of the game, as well as a realistic Jumbo-tron above showing real game footage. Playful game devices, quick-cut editing, and a driving soundtrack add to the spot's visceral effectiveness.

For Viewpoint Creative Director Joseph Kiely the primary reason the package resonates so well is the decision at the outset to execute the concept organically, eschewing obvious visual effects or digital animation. That meant constructing from scratch a real pop and shoot arcade game set big enough hold a camera.

"Everyone involved agreed that there needed to be an organic quality to the spots," says Kiely, "and we thought since it was an arcade game, why not just build one. Our Art Director, Matt Naboshek, went through many iterations designing not just the look of the set but the logistics of the shoot and how the camera would move."

Adding to the challenge was the dual purpose the work would serve: branding Fox Sports Net's NBA coverage, and also providing a user-friendly promotional toolkit that the affiliates could use to promote specific games on their channel.



For Viewpoint that meant creating numerous elements ­ such as the panel shots of individual players and team logos ­ that the affiliates could easily substitute to create specific team match-ups on an as-needed basis that would integrate seamlessly into the overall concept.

"It wasn't easy to take something this organic and specific and turn it into a general toolkit that every regional affiliate could use no matter what kind of technology they had in their studios," adds David Shilale, Viewpoint Executive Producer. "It serves as a great example of the combination of conceptual thinking, flexibility and technical know-how we bring to our clients."

Viewpoint Creative
With offices in Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA, and 18 years experience, the award-winning creative agency Viewpoint Creative has built a well-earned reputation for its ability to motivate consumers to act with immersive brand experiences. With a commitment to strategic thinking across every conceivable medium, the company has lent its considerable skills to such clients as ABC, Bose, Discovery, Gillette, HBO, HGTV, PBS, Mattel, Sci Fi Channel, and the Wall Street Journal.

Viewpoint Creative: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/8536.html

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